Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/589641
BY KILEY JACQUES There's seemingly no end to the ways The Open Door goes about feeding people. Feel-Good Food photographs by Anthony Pira 100 | NOVEMBER 2015 nshoremag.com in-depth P L AC E S The Open Door Page 100 S H O P Winfrey's Chocolates Page 106 L I V E Paleo Nutrition Page 124 FAC E S Lucia's Donato Frattaroli Page 134 FAC E S Essential Chefs Catering Page 146 D I N E Palmers Restaurant & Tavern Page 158 IN THIS ISSUE: There's a sign hanging on a wall inside Gloucester's Open Door food pantry that reads… TODAY IS A NEW DAY! you can start fresh, wipe the slate clean BEGIN AGAIN Today you can EMBRACE kindness Practice COMPASSION Stand Up for Justice Talk to Strangers ASK FOR HELP LISTEN with your whole heart OFFER HOPE work for the common good LOVE WELL be the change you wish to see in the world. —Marla Rae …and it perfectly denotes what the people inside the little nondescript building at the end of Emerson Av- enue are all about. Founded in 1978, the independent organization came about in a pretty straightforward way: "It was just a bunch of people in this community who were saying, 'We think it's impor- tant that our neighbors have enough to eat.' It was that simple," says Execu- tive Director Julie LaFontaine, who began as a volunteer 17 years ago. Today, the programming is so robust that, until recently, they were bursting at the seams. A just- completed renovation project gave them 2,000 additional square feet, increased parking, a covered loading dock, triple the cooler and freezer capacity, and a new classroom. No doubt, with the reconfigured space, they will continue to grow their services as they have so successfully done for nearly four decades. The lengths that the 40 staff mem- bers and 1,000-plus volunteers go to in the name of feeding people are extraordinary. Of course, there's the "traditional hunger relief program," i.e., the food pantry, which last year alone provided 580,289 pounds of supplemental groceries. The "100-percent-choice" pantry employs the client-directed service model and trauma-informed care principles (usually applied in a shelter) to the food-insecure population they serve. "When people come into a space, they need to feel safe, they need to have choice, they need to have trust, and they need to have dignity," ex- plains LaFontaine. To that end, clients use grocery carts to go through the aisles and make selections; they check out as if at a grocery store, but instead of Volunteers and staff prepare super-fresh dishes for the nightly community meals.